In recent years more and more fisherman have relied on downriggers for trolling at lower depths. Conventional downriggers are sold both as manual and electric types which include a reel of cable and a swiveling boom tip. Such downriggers are mounted on the rear of a boat and by attaching a conventional fishing line from the fisherman's rod and reel to the weighted downrigger cable, the fishing line is thus lowered to a desired depth which may be 30-90 feet below the water's surface. By trolling at such lower depths, large salmon, bluefish and other species are more likely caught. While both manual and electric downriggers have been commercially available for many years, a need has existed for more versatility which will allow a user to convert from manual to electric power and back as needed. Fishermen often purchase a manual downrigger, only a short time later to determine that it would be advantageous to have one which is electrically powered. Others purchase a motorized downrigger only to find that their purposes are best served by one which can be manually operated. Thus, with the problems and disadvantages of prior art downriggers, the present invention was conceived and one of its objectives is to provide a means for converting a conventional manual downrigger to one which is powered by an electric motor.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide apparatus which will allow a typical manual downrigger to be converted to electric power in a quick, simple and reliable fashion.
It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide a method of converting a downrigger to one having an electric drive and to reconvert it to manual operation as needed.
It is still another objective of the present invention to provide an electric drive assembly for a downrigger which includes a drive bracket and a pair of braces for ease in conversion.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a reel shaft extension for attachment to the downrigger cable reel and to the transmission of the electric drive.
Various other objectives and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art as a more detailed description is set forth below.